Daniel Day Lewis

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Biography

Daniel Day-Lewis (born 29.04.1957)Daniel Day-Lewis is an English actor who is the only known person to have won an Academy Award for Best Actor three times for his parts in 'My Left Foot', 'There Will Be Blood' and 'Lincoln'.

Childhood: Daniel Day-Lewis was born in London. His parents are former Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis and actress Jill Balcon. His grandfather Sir Michael Balcon was the head of Ealing Studios. He grew up in Croom's Hill, Greenwich, London from the age of two. He was bullied at school for his Jewish ancestry and being 'posh' which resulted in his mimicking the local accent and behaviours and subsequently landed him in trouble often for petty crimes. He attended Sevenoaks School in Kent, a boarding school, which introduced him to his main interests; woodworking, acting and fishing. His first film role was an uncredited part in 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' where he was paid to vandalise some cars at age 14. He attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for three years after leaving Bedales.

Acting career: Daniel Day-Lewis' early roles include parts in BBC programs 'Frost in May' and 'How Many Miles to Babylon?'. In 1982, he had a small part in the biopic 'Gandhi'. His big theatre break came that year with 'Another Country'. In 1983, he had a supporting role in 'The Bounty' and he soon joined the Royal Shakespeare Company with roles such as Romeo in 'Romeo and Juliet' and Flute in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. In 1985, he won his first awards for acting including a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in 'My Beautiful Laundrette'. In the same year, he began filming alongside Helena Bonham Carter for 'A Room With A View'. His first leading role was in 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' in 1987 in which he played Czech surgeon who goes against his natural instincts and falls in love. He learned to speak Czech for the role and remained in character even off the set. His first Oscar for Best Actor came with his portrayal of cerebral palsy afflicted artist Christy Brown in Jim Sheridan's 'My Left Foot' in 1989. His propensity for method acting meant he had to be pushed around in a wheelchair with caused great difficult for crew members. In the same year, he played the lead role in 'Hamlet' at the National Theatre, London. However, he collapsed midway through the production at the point where Hamlet sees his father's ghost and refused to return to the stage after he was taken backstage in tears. He later said on 'Parkinson' that he had in fact seen the ghost of his own father and he has not appeared in theatre since. In 1992, he starred in 'The Last of the Mohicans'. To prepare for the role, he took up weight-training and began camping whereby he learned to live off the land. The movie landed him with a BAFTA Award nomination. He earned another BAFTA nomination as well as an Oscar nomination playing a wrongly convicted IRA bomber in 'In the Name of the Father' in 1993. The rest of the nineties saw him star in 1993's Martin Scorsese adapted movie 'The Age of Innocence', 1996's 'The Crucible' and Jim Sheridan's 'The Boxer' in 1997. He then didn't appear in another movie for five years; he move to Florence, Italy and apprenticed as a shoemaker. On his return, he appeared in 'Gangs of New York' and landed another Academy Award nomination and won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor. His third Oscar came with 2007's 'There Will Be Blood'. He also won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role as well as a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the same flick. In 2012, Daniel portrayed the legendary US president Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's 'Lincoln'. The movie grossed more than $220 million worldwide and earned him his third Oscar for Best actor.

Personal Life: Daniel Day-Lewis has a son, Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis, with French actress Isabelle Adjani who he dated for six years. His birth came several months after the split. He married Rebecca Miller, the daughter of playwright Arthur Miller in 1996, who he met while filming 'The Crucible'. They have two sons Ronan Cal Day-Lewis and Cashel Blake Day-Lewis. He has homes in both New York and Ireland and he became an Irish citizen in 1993. He is a fan of English soccer team Millwall. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol in 2010.

Sir Daniel Day-Lewis is one of Hollywood's greatest actors, there's no question. But you might be surprised to learn that there is a lot more to him; from his high-brow upbringing and his famous relatives, to the extent of his devotion to acting, here are ten facts you might not have released about the star.

Daniel Day-Lewis at the BAFTAs

1. His father was Cecil Day-Lewis - He was actually the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1968, but he died in 1972 when Daniel was just 15-years-old. You might also know Cecil as Nicholas Blake; his pseudonym under which he wrote a series of mystery stories.

Who knew the world of fashion could be so strained and dramatic? But that's exactly what it is for the world renowned dressmaker depicted in 'Phantom Thread'. A romantic period drama with Paul Thomas Anderson at the helm, it's also set to be Daniel Day-Lewis' final film.

It's the 1950s and Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) is one of the leading names in high fashion in London, dressing the likes of the royal family, the biggest filmstars and a variety of famous heiresses and socialites. He's aided at The House of Woodcock by his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville), though the pair could not be more different.

Reynolds is a flighty self-confessed bachelor who sees love as almost a curse on his work. His life has seen too many women flit in and out of it, but when he meets the pretty yet headstrong Alma (Vicky Krieps), a woman several years his junior, he begins to feel as if he's found the perfect relationship.

It's not altogether uncommon for an actor to retire early from their profession, but when it's a triple Oscar-winning veteran who looks ten years younger than he actually is, like Sir Daniel Day-Lewis for example, it's a sad turn of events for millions of movie lovers.

Daniel Day-Lewis at the 2013 BAFTAs party

The 60-year-old 'Lincoln' star has never exactly been prolific in his acting career, but despite this, he has still managed to two Golden Globes, three Academy Awards, four BAFTAs and over one hundred more accolades with less than 30 film and television credits to his name.

The 57 year old was honoured for his acting career which has seen him become the only person to win the Academy Award for best actor three times. He was named during the Queen’s Birthday Honour’s List in June, after which he said he was “entirely amazed and utterly delighted in equal measure”.

With Robert Downey Jr fitting so perfectly as likeable irritant Tony Stark, Christian Bale slipping so easily into the tortured billionaire psyche of Bruce Wayne and Daniel Day-Lewis transforming himself into the epitome of Abraham Lincoln, it's hard to believe that for all of the above roles, there were some serious previous contenders. But contenders there were and some of the not entirely savoury.

The pint-sized action hero made it his mission impossible to kick ass as IMF agent, Ethan Hunt, but could he have romanced Pepper Potts in quite the same way as Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man? It seems like we very nearly found out with Cruise at one point in serious contention to play the arrogant but entertaining genius.

57 year-old Daniel Day-Lewis will be knighted by the Queen, here's why he's more than deserving of such an accolade.

Few actors impart an intensity and dedication to the process of characterization as relentlessly as Daniel Day-Lewis. The 57 year-old occupies a position in the acting world that accumulates esteem akin to the likes of legendary Hollywood ‘method’, a calibre of which includes the likes of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Harvey Kietel. These are the great actors who immerse themselves in roles to dizzying extents, adopting accents, traits and idiosyncrasies for the entirety of the shooting schedule, both in front of the camera, on set and even amongst friends and family.

Angelina Jolie and Daniel Day Lewis are honoured on the Queen's Birthday Honours List, alongside fellow actor Maggie Smith who has been named a Companion of Honour.

The Queen's Birthday Honours List consists of 1149 people including Angelina Jolie and Daniel Day-Lewis. Day- Lewis has received a knighthood and Jolie has been made an honorary dame. Whilst Maggie Smith has received another honour in addition to being a Dame, namely Companion of Honour.

Daniel Day-Lewis' three Oscars for Best Actor were mentioned in the List.

Day-Lewis has received a knighthood for his services to the performing arts and his long, successful and prolific career. In the statement, released alongside the list on Friday (13th June), Day-Lewis' three Oscars for Best Actor are mentioned in addition to his performances for which he received the awards: My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood and Lincoln. The statement also mentioned his role in My Beautiful Launderette which "began a reputation for fully exploring his characters, engaging himself physically, psychologically and emotionally."

He doesn't want to be associated with his father but we probably wouldn't have heard Gabe Day's music otherwise.

Daniel Day-Lewis's son, Gabriel, has released a rap under the name Gabe Day, entitled 'Green Auras.' The single is accompanied by a music video in which we see Gabe, who looks a lot like his father, clad in a baseball cap and wooden Africa necklace singing about his experiences amongst a supporting cast of college buddies.

Daniel Day-Lewis' Son, Gabe, Ventures Into The Competitive World Of Rap.

Now he may look and seemingly act like Josh Peck's sincere stoner from The Wackness but hear Gabe Day out: his new single was produced by hip hop hitmaker J. Cole and the lyrics clearly came from the 18 year-old's heart as he assesses life under the shadow of his father's career and turning to marijuana after learning he was bipolar.

The internet went into overdrive yesterday with news that three-times Oscar winner and the greatest actor on the planet, Daniel Day-Lewis, would play 007 himself, James Bond. Ok, so there wasn't anything like confirmation, but judging by the way both the tabloid and broadsheets span a couple of comments from Bond author William Boyd, the whole thing seemed bizarrely nailed on.

Daniel Day-Lewis - Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis prepares to take part in the 2013 Mille Miglia road race driving a 1953 Jagaur XK 120, starting from Brescia to Rome and back again covering 1000miles in three days - Brescia, Italy - Thursday 16th May 2013